It should be remembered…that the one true God is in Himself
exalted beyond and above proximity and remoteness. His reality transcendeth such
limitations. His relationship to His creatures knoweth no degrees. That some
are near and others are far is to be ascribed to the manifestations themselves. 
Meditate on what the poet hath written: “Wonder not, if my
Best-Beloved be closer to me than mine own self; wonder at this, that I, despite
such nearness, should still be so far from Him.”... Considering what God hath
revealed, that “We are closer to man than his life-vein,” the poet hath, in
allusion to this verse, stated that, though the revelation of my Best-Beloved
hath so permeated my being that He is closer to me than my life-vein, yet,
notwithstanding my certitude of its reality and my recognition of my station, I
am still so far removed from Him. By this he meaneth that his heart, which is
the seat of the All-Merciful and the throne wherein abideth the splendor of His
revelation, is forgetful of its Creator, hath strayed from His path, hath shut
out itself from His glory, and is stained with the defilement of earthly
desires.
Behold, how immeasurably exalted is the Lord your God above
all created things! Witness the majesty of His sovereignty, His ascendancy, and
supreme power. If the things which have been created by Him—magnified be His
glory—and ordained to be the manifestations of His names and attributes, stand,
by virtue of the grace with which they have been endowed, exalted beyond all
proximity and remoteness, how much loftier must be that Divine Essence that
hath called them into being?...
No man of wisdom can demonstrate his knowledge save by means
of words. This showeth the significance of the Word as is affirmed in all the
Scriptures, whether of former times or more recently. For it is through its
potency and animating spirit that the people of the world have attained so
eminent a position. Moreover words and utterances should be both impressive and
penetrating. However, no word will be infused with these two qualities unless
it be uttered wholly for the sake of God and with due regard unto the
exigencies of the occasion and the people.
Were man to appreciate the greatness of his station and the
loftiness of his destiny he would manifest naught save goodly character, pure
deeds, and a seemly and praiseworthy conduct. If the learned and wise men of
goodwill were to impart guidance unto the people, the whole earth would be
regarded as one country. Verily this is the undoubted truth. This servant
appealeth to every diligent and enterprising soul to exert his utmost endeavour
and arise to rehabilitate the conditions in all regions and to quicken the dead
with the living waters of wisdom and utterance, by virtue of the love he
cherisheth for God, the One, the Peerless, the Almighty, the Beneficent.
The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every
direction, and the strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily
increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned,
inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective. I
beseech God, exalted be His glory, that He may graciously awaken the peoples of
the earth, may grant that the end of their conduct may be profitable unto them,
and aid them to accomplish that which beseemeth their station.
Please God, the peoples of the world may be led, as the
result of the high endeavours exerted by their rulers and the wise and learned
amongst men, to recognize their best interests. How long will humanity persist
in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and
confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of
society?
I yield Thee praise, O Lord my God, that Thou hast fulfilled
Thy testimony, completed Thy favour, established upon the throne of Divine
Revelation Him Who proclaimed Thy oneness and Thy unity, and summoned all
humanity to appear before Him. Amongst the people are those who have turned
towards Him, attained His presence, and quaffed the choice wine of His
Revelation. I beseech Thee by Thy sovereign might which hath dominion over all
things, and by Thy bounty which embraceth the entire creation, to enable Thy
loved ones to sever themselves from all except Thee and to fix their gaze upon
the horizon of Thy grace. Assist them, then, to arise to serve Thee, that they
may evince whatsoever Thou hast desired in Thy realm and may unfurl the banners
of Thy victory in Thy land. Thou, verily, art the Almighty, the Most Exalted,
the Sovereign Protector, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Praise be to Thee, O my God, that Thou hast ordained this
day [Naw-Ruz] as a festival unto the favoured among Thy servants and the
sincere among Thy loved ones. Thou hast called this day by that Name whereby
all created things have been subdued and the breezes of Thy Revelation have
been wafted between earth and heaven, a Name through which all that hath been
recorded in Thy Holy Books and Sacred Scriptures hath been made manifest, and
which Thy Messengers and Thy Chosen Ones have foretold, that all men might be
made ready to behold Thee, to turn towards the ocean of Thy reunion, to stand
before the seat of Thy throne, and to hear Thy wondrous call from the Dayspring
of Thine invisible Self and the Dawning-Place of Thine Essence.
He Who is Thy Branch and all Thy company, O my Lord, have
broken this day their fast, after having observed it within the precincts of
Thy court, and in their eagerness to please Thee. Do Thou ordain for Him, and
for them, and for all such as have entered Thy presence in those days all the
good Thou didst destine in Thy Book. Supply them, then, with that which will
profit them, in both this life and the life beyond.
Praise be unto Thee, O Lord my God! This is that Day among
Thy Days and that Hour among Thy blessed Hours which Thou hast reserved for
Thine own Self, related to Thine own Being, and exalted in station, that Thy
Name may endure and Thy sovereignty be made manifest. Thou hast made this Day
to be the source of all days, inasmuch as Thou hast showered upon it the
revelations of the Throne of Thy majesty and the signs of Thy transcendent
favour. Thou hast created it anew, at this time, in the most excellent form in
this ancient Temple, so that on this Day, and by its grace, all the dwellers of
earth and heaven might be raised again to life and, unbeknownst to and
unapprehended by all, be called upon to render account regarding Thy Self.
Perchance Thy sacred and celestial blessings and Thy divine and glorious
bestowals might be completed therein, that they may testify to the creation of
all things on the Day of Thy presence and to the appearance of Thy days and the
dawning of the Sun of Thy beauty.
Thou art the One, O my God, to Whom every name is abashed to
be related, and in Whose presence all things shrink for shame from being
mentioned. From eternity Thou hast dwelt in those transcendent heights that are
exalted above all mention and description. How great are Thy sovereignty and
Thy power and how mighty Thy grandeur!—this, though all things acknowledge that
Thou art entirely sanctified from, and immeasurably exalted above, all but
Thine own Self. Thou has subdued the entire world through a single Word that
hath been related to the kingdom of Thine utterance and from which the
fragrance of the robe of Thy Command hath been wafted.
The Great Being saith: The man of consummate learning and
the sage endowed with penetrating wisdom are the two eyes to the body of
mankind. God willing, the earth shall never be deprived of these two greatest
gifts. That which hath been set forth and will be revealed in the future is but
a token of this Servant’s ardent desire to dedicate Himself to the service of
all the kindreds of the earth.
Beseech ye the One true God that He may, through the power
of the hand of loving-kindness and spiritual education, purge and purify
certain souls from the defilement of evil passions and corrupt desires, that
they may arise and unloose their tongues for the sake of God, that perchance
the evidences of injustice may be blotted out and the splendour of the light of
justice may shed its radiance upon the whole world. The people are ignorant,
and they stand in need of those who will expound the truth.
Reflect, how the people have rejected the Beauty of God, and
have clung unto their covetous desires. Notwithstanding all these consummate
verses, these unmistakable allusions, which have been revealed in the “Most
weighty Revelation,” the Trust of God amongst men, and despite these evident
traditions, each more manifest than the most explicit utterance, the people
have ignored and repudiated their truth, and have held fast to the letter of
certain traditions which, according to their understanding, they have found
inconsistent with their expectations, and the meaning of which they have failed
to grasp. They have thus shattered every hope, and deprived themselves of the
pure wine of the All-Glorious, and the clear and incorruptible waters of the
immortal Beauty.
O Son of Being! If thine heart be set upon this eternal,
imperishable dominion, and this ancient, everlasting life, forsake this mortal
and fleeting sovereignty.
Every conqueror is but a serf whom Thy [God’s] hand hath
subjected, and the richest of the rich is as destitute before the immensity of
Thy wealth. The noblest of nobles is humbled when faced with the manifestations
of Thy glory, and the mightiest of potentates is a mere abject one when
confronted with the compelling evidences of Thine authority.
Tear asunder, O my God, the veil of vain imaginings that
hath obscured the vision of Thy people, that all may haste towards Thee, may
tread the path of Thy pleasure, and walk in the ways of Thy Faith. We are, O my
God, Thy servants and Thy bondsmen. Thou art sufficient unto us so that we can
dispense with the world and all that is therein. We are wholly satisfied with
all that hath befallen us in Thy path, and exclaim: “Praised be Thou, in Whose
hand are the realms of revelation and of creation, and all the kingdoms of
earth and heaven!”
I beseech Thee, [God] therefore, by Thyself and by Them
[Manifestations of God], to send down, from the right hand of the throne of Thy
grace, upon all that dwell on earth, that which shall wash them from the stain
of their trespasses against Thee, and cause them to become wholly devoted to
Thy Self, O Thou in Whose hand is the source of all gifts, that they may all arise
to serve Thy Cause, and may detach themselves entirely from all except Thee.
Thou art the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Unrestrained.
Cling firmly to obligatory prayer and fasting. Verily, the
religion of God is like unto heaven; fasting is its sun, and obligatory prayer
is its moon. In truth, they are the pillars of religion whereby the righteous
are distinguished from those who transgress His commandments. We entreat God,
exalted and glorified be He, that He may graciously enable all to observe that
which He hath revealed in His Ancient Book.
Facing in the direction of the Qiblih is a fixed requirement
for the recitation of obligatory prayer, but for other prayers and devotions
one may follow what the merciful Lord hath revealed in the Qur’án: “Whichever
way ye turn, there is the face of God.”
Verily, I say, fasting is the supreme remedy and the most
great healing for the disease of self and passion.
These are, O my Lord, the days in which Thou hast bidden Thy
servants to observe the fast. Blessed is he that observeth the fast wholly for
Thy sake and with absolute detachment from all things except Thee. Assist me
and assist them, O my Lord, to obey Thee and to keep Thy precepts.
We, verily, have set forth all things in Our Book, as a
token of grace unto those who have believed in God, the Almighty, the
Protector, the Self-Subsisting. And We have ordained obligatory prayer and
fasting so that all may by these means draw nigh unto God, the Most Powerful,
the Well-Beloved. We have written down these two laws and expounded every
irrevocable decree. We have forbidden men from following whatsoever might cause
them to stray from the Truth, and have commanded them to observe that which will
draw them nearer unto Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Loving. Say: Observe ye
the commandments of God for love of His beauty, and be not of those who follow
in the ways of the abject and foolish.
Know thou that religion is as heaven; and fasting and
obligatory prayer are its sun and its moon. We entreat God, exalted and
glorified be He, to graciously aid everyone who acteth according to His will
and good-pleasure.
O people of the world! We have enjoined upon you fasting
during a brief period, and at its close have designated for you Naw-Ruz as a
feast. Thus hath the Day-Star of Utterance shone forth above the horizon of the
Book as decreed by Him Who is the Lord of the beginning and the end. … The traveller, the ailing, those who are with
child or giving suck, are not bound by the Fast; they have been exempted by God
as a token of His grace. He, verily, is the Almighty, the Most Generous.
This is, O my God, the first of the days on which Thou hast
bidden Thy loved ones to observe the Fast. I ask of Thee by Thy Self and by him
who hath fasted out of love for Thee and for Thy good-pleasure - and not out of
self and desire, nor out of fear of Thy wrath - and by Thy most excellent names
and august attributes, to purify Thy servants from the love of aught except
Thee and to draw them nigh unto the Dawning-Place of the lights of Thy
countenance and the Seat of the throne of Thy oneness. Illumine their hearts, O
my God, with the light of Thy knowledge and brighten their faces with the rays
of the Daystar that shineth from the horizon of Thy Will. Potent art Thou to do
what pleaseth Thee. No God is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, Whose help is
implored by all men.
In the Name of Him Who hath been promised in the Books of
God, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed! The days of fasting have arrived
wherein those servants who circle round Thy throne and have attained Thy
presence have fasted. Say: O God of names and creator of heaven and earth! I
beg of Thee by Thy Name, the All-Glorious, to accept the fast of those who have
fasted for love of Thee and for the sake of Thy good-pleasure and have carried
out what Thou hast bidden them in Thy Books and Tablets.
